


Escape

by ecc903



Category: The Maze Runner (Movies), The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: F/M, Girl in the Maze, Love, Newt - Freeform, The Maze Runner - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-01
Updated: 2017-04-01
Packaged: 2018-10-13 18:26:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10519332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ecc903/pseuds/ecc903
Summary: Rita and Newt had been best friends since Newt came up in the box. They were always near each other. The only exception was when they ran different sections of the Maze, until one day when the doors closed with Rita behind them. Since then Newt and many of the Gladers were distraught. The Runners were lost without their Keeper, and Newt was lost without his bestfriend. Until one day, everything changed. Rita was sent back into the maze along with a Greenie named Thomas.I don't own The Maze Runner, James Dashner does.





	1. Prologue #1

**Author's Note:**

> Eliza Taylor as Rita (named after scientist Rita Levi-Montalcini)
> 
> This will be a bit slow burn.

You can't take my baby!" A woman with dark hair yelled at the stern-looking woman across from her. 

"We won't let you," agreed a light-haired man who held onto his wife's hand tightly. 

The stern-looking woman, Ava Paige, sighed impatiently. "Mr and Mrs. Tatro, young Katherine is in danger."

"Everybody's in danger now!" Gregory Tatro exclaimed angrily. "Ever since that damn sun flare and this mystery virus spreading, nothing's been safe!"

"You've been tested and you are not immune. The disease already has a hold on the both of you," Ava explained quickly while glancing at her watch. "Katherine, she has hope, she can survive this and possibly help find a cure. WICKED wants to help her. WICKED is good."

"She's a four year-old little girl!" Exploded Jaycee Tatro venomously, her thin lips curling into a snarl and her accented voice becoming less understandable through her anger. "You don't truly expect us to hand our child over to you just like that? Do you?"

"No, I didn't," Ava pinched the bridge of her nose as she felt a slight headache coming on from the stubborn young couple. She glanced toward the stairs to her left and then to the guards behind her. "I didn't want to do this. I wanted you to make the right decision on your own."

"What are you talking talking about?" Demanded Gregory in a panicked voice as Ava signaled with her hand to the guards. 

Suddenly the men surged forward and restrained the young couple so they could not move out of their grip. 

"Hey!" Yelled Gregory angrily as he saw Jaycee wince in pain as the guard's grip left bruises on her arms. "Let go of her! What are you doing?"

"If you won't willingly hand Katherine over, then I will take her forcibly," Ava said shortly as she turned on her heels and headed toward the staircase. 

"No!" Cried Jaycee. "Please, not my baby! She's all we have!"

Both parents struggled against the hold of their captors and both failed to escape. 

Soon Ava's high heels clicking against the wooden stairs could be heard over the couples yelling and struggling. When she became visible again, a little blonde haired girl could be seen trailing behind her with a hold on her hand. 

"Mummy? Daddy?" The girl said in a small, scared and sleep-laced voice. "What's happenin'?"

As the couple struggled even more to get free, with tears streaming unchecked down their faces, Ava picked Katherine up and headed toward the front door of the small house. 

"Be strong, baby!" Jaycee screamed as Ava took her baby girl. 

"Don't give up hope!" Yelled Gregory. "We'll find you! We'll always find you, Princess!"

Their voices turned to muffled yells as Ava slammed the door closed. 

She carried Katherine to the back door of a car, and then strapped her into a carseat. 

"I want Mummy and Daddy," Katherine cried softly.

Ava shook her head at the small girl and with a small smile said, "WICKED is your family now, Rita."

"My name's Kathy," Katherine said with a pout on her lips.

"Not anymore," Ava closed the door and walked to the other side. She opened the driver side door and climbed in. She turned on the engine and began to drive away. 

*****

WICKED headquarters  
10 years until Maze Trials

"Welcome to your new home, Rita," Ava led Katherine to a large room with many educational stations with children at them. She led her over to a group with four girls and began introductions. "Rita, this is Rachel, Harriet, Sonya, and Teresa."

The girls all smiled timidly at Katherine, who only shyly looked to the ground. 

"Now," Ava knelt down next to the frightened child, careful not to get her pristine white pants dirty. "Why don't you play with the girls for a while. Then I'll introduce you to some of the boys."

Katherine's bottom lip began to tremble and tears filled her bright blue eyes. 

Ava sighed while fighting the urge to roll her eyes. "Fine, lets sit you down somewhere while you calm yourself. But you need to work with me or we won't be getting along."

She led Katherine to a small group of boys who were quietly coloring. She sat Katherine down in a plastic red chair, and then turned on her heels and exited the room. 

A small Asian boy turned to her with a wide smile. "Hi! My name is Zachary! I-I mean Minho. Don't tell Miss Paige that I said that. My name is M-Minho. What's yours?"

Katherine stayed silent, staring at her small hands, and after a few moments the disheartened boy turned back to his drawing of a rabbit and continued to color it. 

Katherine looked up from her hands to catch a blonde haired, brown eyed boy, eying her curiously. When he caught her gaze, his chubby cheeks flushed pink and his eyes dropped back to his coloring book. 

••••  
3 hours later

While the rest of the children munched happily on a snack of carrot sticks and celery, Katherine still sat in her plastic red chair. 

Eventually the blonde boy from earlier ventured over to her and sat down in a chair similar to Katherine's. 

"My name is Newt," the boy, Newt, said softly to her in an accented voice, similar to hers. "I know you don't like to talk, or you're sad or somethin', but if you want a friend, I'll be it."

Newt continued talking, "it's not so bad here. I miss my Mummy, but there's lotsa fun things to do."

When Katherine remained silent, Newt smiled and sat quietly next to her. 

"Real name?"

Newt looked up in surprise when he heard a timid voice come from the left of him. "Huh?"

"They call me Rita, but I'm Kathy," Katherine continued. "What's your real name?"

"I'm Michael," Newt told her. "But Mummy called me Mikey."

"We talk the same." 

Newt began to laugh. "Yeah, I guess so. All the other kids think I talk funny. They are the ones who talk funny, though. Everyone at home sounds like this."

Newt's smile suddenly dimmed as he thought about home. 

"I don't like it here," whispered Katherine as tears gathered in her eyes. 

"It's okay," Newt whispered back as he put a small, slightly chubby arm around her. "I'll be here to make it better."


	2. Prologue #2

WICKED headquarters; 1 week until being sent into the Maze

Newt woke up with a gasp as he felt something fall onto his stomach. 

His brown eyes snapped onto the blonde girl on top of him. He sighed, "Kathy, did you really have to wake me up like that."

Rita laughed quietly and crawled off of Newt. "You know I did, Mikey."

A grin tugged at the corner of Newt's lips as he looked up at the open vent and shook his head slightly. "You're not supposed to call me 'Mikey'. You're going to get yourself in trouble."

"Then why do you call me 'Kathy' when you're not supposed to?" Rita asked with a cocky smile before laying down next to Newt. 

"Because your face lights up in a bloody beautiful smile when you hear your real name," Newt rolled onto his side and tucked a stray lock of hair behind Rita's ear. 

"Aw," Rita blushed slightly. "Aren't you just a charmer?"

"You know me," Newt planted a chaste kiss on her cheek. "C'mon now, you have to go back to your room. It's almost time for daily inspection, I suppose. I know that Sonya and Harriet won't tell anybody you're here, but it won't look good if Chancellor Paige and her lackeys find you."

"Listen to the guy!" The two heard Minho groan from below them, on his part of the bunk bed. "Your cuteness is sickening."

"Really, get out!" Alby agreed from across the room. 

"You're all little fu-" Rita began to say with an eye roll before being interrupted. 

"I'm only twelve!" Gally yelled from his bunk above Alby while covering his ears. "No swears!"

"Fine," Rita rolled her eyes again and laughed. "Lets see... how about 'you're all little shucks'? Sounds just like the other word, but it's not a swear."

"Great, now get back to your room so us shanks can sleep," Minho grumbled while pressing his face further into his pillow. 

"I said shuck," laughed Rita as she stood up precariously on Newt's bed, "not shank."

"Do I sound like I care?" 

Newt laughed, "go on, Spider Monkey, crawl back into your little hole."

Suddenly, he gently pulled her back down onto the bed. He pulled her face closer to his and planted a soft kiss onto her lips. "See you at breakfast, love."

"See you," Rita grinned softly and planted one last kiss on the tip of Newt's nose before hauling herself back up into the vent, crawling back to her room, and dropping onto her bed. 

She quietly placed the vent cover back into place. 

After climbing down the bunk bed she shared with Harriet, she snuck a peek at both of her roommates and saw that they were still sleeping. 

Rita grabbed her purely white uniform and a matching towel before walking into the bathroom and getting ready for the day. 

When she got out of the bathroom, she saw both Sonya and Harriet awake and looking at door. Rita turned and looked toward where they were staring. 

What she saw made her narrow her eyes in anger. Ava Paige stood before her, and then dismissed Harriet and Sonya from the room. 

"Hello, Rita," Ava Paige greeted her with a sinister smirk that Rita had come to know and despise. 

"My name is Kathy," She snarled, "you little bitch."

"Rita, I have put up with your defiance for far too long," Chancellor Paige said in a eerily calm voice. "You are starting to make the others question all that WICKED is about. We've come to a decision."

"You gonna 'eliminate' me? Just like you did to George and Nick," Rita hissed at the blonde woman before her as she thought of two boys who had up and disappeared days earlier. 

"Not eliminate," Chancellor Paige smirked. "Just prepare for phase one in our trials."

"What trials?"

"You'll see," Ava's smile grew more sinister. "Guards, restrain her and bring her to lab room number three."

Suddenly Ava's lackeys lunged forward and seized her by her arms before practically dragging her from the room.

"Stop it!" The girl screeched. "Let go of me!"

"Rita?"

Rita turned her head around as the guards pulled her down the hall. She saw Minho looking at her and the guards, confusion and a bit of anger covering his face. 

"Go back to your dorm, Minho," Ava said firmly to him as she followed Rita and the guards, her white heels clicking against the floor with every step she took. 

"But-"

"Now!" Ava yelled and Minho turned and walked back to his dorm in a hurry. 

Next thing Rita knew, she was being dragged into a pristine white room with a lab table and lots of machines. 

"Sedate her," Ava said as two lab assistants helped her shrug on a scrub-like jacket that covered her clothing. She then pulled a mask over her mouth and nose. 

"What?" Exclaimed Rita before she felt a stabbing pain in her neck and everything slowly faded to black. 

                            ~~~~

WICKED headquarters; Five days until being sent into the Maze

With a bright smile that she felt hadn't  graced her face for a long while, Rita walked into the dining hall and quickly spotted a group of friendly looking boys. 

Her pace picked up into a slight jog as she made her way to the table. As she approached it a blonde boy shot up and pulled her into his arms. 

Shocked, she hesitantly wrapped her arms around him and awkwardly patted his back. 

"Kathy," he mumbled into her neck after placing a soft kiss on it, "I was so worried after Minho told us what happened. You were gone for days. I thought I'd never see you again like Nick and George. Then Alby, Zart, Siggy, Chris, and Eddie disappeared, too."

"Who's Kathy?" Asked Rita with a frown as she abruptly pulled away from the awkward embrace. "My name is Rita."

"Kath," The 'blondie', as Rita had silently deemed him, frowned. "Drop the act, I'm seriously confused and sort of scared here."

"Me too," mumbled Rita as she backed away. "Bloody hell, you're freaking me out, mate. Who are you? I just came over to introduce myself."

"Min," Newt turned around to face Minho, "what's happening?"

"I don't know man," Minho furrowed his brow in confusion. "I really don't know."

"Rita," Rita heard Ava Paige's voice from behind her. 

She turned and smiled when she saw the woman. "Hello, Chancellor Paige, may I help you with something?"

"Yes dear, actually you can," Ava gave the blonde girl a sickly sweet grin. "Come along, now."

Rita smiled and followed the woman, not knowing that it'd be the last time she saw Newt and the rest of the boys before her memory was completely swiped. Five days later, Rita was sent into the maze.


	3. 01 | The Glade

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bob Morley as Nick
> 
>  
> 
> Keiynan Lonsdale as Eddie
> 
>  
> 
> Tyler Blackburn as Chris
> 
>  
> 
> Riker Lynch as George
> 
>  
> 
> Evan Peters as Zart
> 
>  
> 
> Dexter Darden as Frypan
> 
>  
> 
>   Aml Ameen as Alby 
> 
>  
> 
> The Rest of the Cast as Their Characters

The grinding of metal against metal was what woke her up. The clanking and banging rang in her ears so loudly that she thought her eardrums would burst. 

Her first coherent thought was that she was going upwards like she was on an elevator. 

What was an elevator?

She found it odd and mildly frightening that she could remember things like, what the cinema and automobiles were, but she couldn't even remember her name or family. Did she even have a family?

She let out a scream of horror as the box she was in lurched, causing her to go tumbling into the side of a covered crate. 

Loud squeals began to come from the crate, causing the girl to shriek and begin to scoot backwards and away from it until she hit the metal wall of the box.

"Hello?" She yelled, hoping somebody would hear her. "Somebody please help me! HELLO?! HELP ME!"

She resorted to screaming at the top of her lungs for help, praying to whoever would listen that somebody would hear her.

Her pleas for help were cut short when the box suddenly screeched to a stop. 

When the girl heard clanging and muffled voices coming from above her, she made a quick decision to duck behind one of the crates that wasn't making sounds and hide from whatever was above her. 

After a loud noise screeching noise was heard, light began to flood the box, and the voices above her got clearer. 

"Is it another boy?" One voice, distinctly male, asked. 

"Doesn't look like anyone's down there," a second male voice rang out. Then he continued to speak. "Anyone there? Cmon out, Greenbean, we ain't gonna hurt ya."

Slowly and cautiously, the girl made her way out from behind the crate and into the light. She looked up, but had to block her eyes from the bright sun rays that beamed down upon her. 

"I'll be damned," the boy that told her to come out of hiding spoke. "It's a girl. I was starting to think that it'd be all boys they sent up here."

When she thought she could look up without being blinded, the still nameless girl blinked her eyes open slowly and saw a boy, probably mid-teens, holding out a hand to her. 

"C'mon now, take my hand," the boy smirked playfully, "I don't bite, Greenie."

Cautiously, the girl stood, and reached up for the boy's hand but wasn't quite able to reach it. 

"I can't reach it," she spoke, her voice more hoarse and scratchy than she assumed it usually was because of her previous screaming. 

"Right," the dark haired boy mumbled before lying down on his stomach and inching his way further into the box. "Can you get it now?"

"Yeah," nodded the girl as she was just able to latch her hand onto the boy's. 

As he began to pull her out of the box, he lost his balance from leaning down too far, and went tumbling down on top of her. 

"Ugh," he grunted in pain, "sorry Greenie, didn't mean to squish ya."

"Could you please just get off," asked the girl, as she huffed in pain. "You're not a feather, you know."

"Yeah, sorry," the boy chuckled as a small grin lit up his face. "You're a feisty one, ain't ya?"

Then he stood while helping her up and looked to the top of the box where six other boys were peering in. 

"George," the boy called up to one of them. "Go grab some rope and tie a loop in the end of it. She's not gonna be able to pull herself out, even with my help. She's too shaky."

"Aye aye, captain," exclaimed one of the boys with blonde hair before he scurried away from the edge of the box. 

The brown haired boy that was in he box with her turned to face her. "My name's Nick, by the way. Do you remember yours? "

The girl racked her brain, trying to come up with what her name could have been, but she couldn't think of anything. She shook her head slowly, "I can't remember."

"It's okay," Nick patted her shoulder sympathetically. "The rest of us have only been here for a couple of days. We didn't remember our names right away either, but it usually comes back by the end of the day."

She nodded her head, signifying that she understood what Nick had said. "What is this place?"

"Well right now you're in the Box," Nick told her. "It's been sending up boys over the last couple of days, along with some supplies."

Right at that moment the thing in the crate that the girl had deemed a monster, decided to make its loud squealing noise. 

The girl gasped and jumped closer to Nick. "Th-that thing has been making that noise for ages. What in the sodding hell is it?"

"Calm down, Greenie," Nick laughed as he walked a couple of paces over to the crate. He put his hand on the dirty sheet that was covering it and pulled it away, revealing a dirty pink animal. "It's just a little piggy, not some big scary monster that's gonna eat ya."

"Yeah, well if you were in some pitch black, dank, cage with the thing screeching at you, you'd be a little frightened too," the girl huffed and rolled her eyes at Nick. "And what the hell is a Greenie?"

Nick chuckled, "well, little spitfire, like I said you don't remember your name when you first come up so we've gotta call you something. And plus, after a ride up here with this thing jostling you around, you're liable to look really green and about to throw up, hence the name Greenbean."

When the girl just stared at him blankly he continued, "ya know, Greenbean, cause you look green in the face and green beans are, well, green?"

She nodded slowly, "yeah, I get it."

"Good," Nick said as the blonde boy, George as Nick had called him, came back with a rope. 

"I'm sendin' it down, Nick," George called out before throwing one end of a rope down into the box. 

Nick put a gentle hand on the girl's back and nudged her toward the rope. "Just put your foot in the loop, hang on tight, and the guys will pull you on up."

When she hesitated, Nick continued to speak, "trust me, Greenie, we won't hurt you."

Slowly, the girl stepped forward and put her foot in the loop that was tied into the brown rope. She held on tightly and then nodded at Nick, signifying that she was ready to be pulled up.

"Alrighty then, boys, pull her up," Nick called to the boys outside of the box. 

Then with a sharp tug, she was pulled up a bit, but then slammed into the wall.

"Holy shuck," yelped the girl as she tightened her grip on the rope, trying not to fall, "Be careful, would you, shanks?"

"Shanks, shuck?" Laughed Nick, "what's that mean?"

"I-I don't know," she stuttered, mulling over the thoughts in her head, trying to decipher where the words had come from. "They just p-popped into my head."

"Well, I like 'em," Nick continued to chuckle. Then he raised his voice so the boys above them could hear him. "You heard her shanks be a little more gentle, would ya?"

"Aye aye Captain Nick," George called out gleefully, "we'll take real good care of the Greenie, as long as she tells us what the heck those words mean."

"Just pull her up, ya idiots," commanded Nick with a hearty laugh.

Upon that, the boy's began to yank on the rope, pulling the girl up, and into the unfiltered light. 

The girl was on her knees, shielding her eyes from the seemingly brighter light when she saw a hand in front of her. 

She grabbed onto the hand, and the boy pulled her up. She looked up to see a dark-skinned boy with black hair that was shaved close to his scalp. 

"The name's Alby, Greenie," the boy, Alby, introduced himself. "Welcome to the Glade."

"What's the Glade?" Asked the girl as she spun around, taking in the open and grassy space that had only multiple crates spread across it and was enclosed in ginormous cement walls. 

"This is," a blonde boy, who was not George, said timidly. "I'm Zart."

"H-hi, Zart," muttered the girl as she continued looking around. "Why do you call it the Glade?"

"Because a glade is an open space in a forest," explained a boy with skin that was lighter than Alby's, but not as light as George's. "There isn't exactly a forest, but there's some woods over there and the rest is open space."

She looked to where the boy pointed and saw a moderate amount of trees and shrubs. 

The boy continued to speak, "I'm Eddie by the way, it's nice to have a pretty face in the midst of all these ugly mugs."

"Hey," exclaimed a tan boy indignantly. "Don't listen to him, he's probably the ugliest dude here. The name's Chris, little lady."

"Stop flirting, idiot, or in the words of our newest Newbie, shank," another dark-skinned boy stepped forward, "my name's Siggy."

"But, you can call him Frypan," Nick said as George helped him out of the Box. "It's what we call him."

Siggy, or Frypan, rolled his eyes as the girl asked, "why do you call him that?"

"Cause the shank almost took Nick out with a frying pan when he first came up in the box yesterday," laughed Eddie as Frypan looked down in embarrassment. The boys seemed to be embracing the words that the girl had accidentally spit out. 

The boys continued talking to her, but a voice in the girl's head blocked them out. 

Rita

It was just a whisper of a voice in her head, but to the girl it seemed like someone had screamed it at the top of their lungs. 

"Rita," the girl whispered. 

Was that her name? Was she Rita? 

"What was that?" Asked Nick in confusion. "We didn't hear you."

More confidently, the girl spoke, "Rita. I think it's my name."

"Rita!" Exclaimed Nick loudly with a smile.

"Rita!" All of the other boys echoed. 

Nick stepped forward, "well, Rita, welcome to the Glade."

Rita was about the answer, when a loud grinding noise sounded, causing all of the Gladers to block their ears. 

Suddenly, huge doors on four sides of the cement walls began to slide open with a screeching sound that none of the teenagers had ever heard before. 

"What the hell was that?" Exclaimed Rita after the doors stopped moving. 

Nick looked at a loss for words as he stared at one of the openings. "I-I have no clue. This is the first time that's happened."


	4. 02 | The Maze

"You're telling me that you have no idea why the bloody hell gigantic doors just opened up?" Asked Rita in bewilderment as her and the seven boys gaped at the large openings in the Glade's walls. 

"If we did know, we'd tell you," Chris rolled his eyes at the blonde girl. 

"Well, come on then," Eddie said as he stepped toward the opening closest to them. "Let's check it out."

"Hey!" Nick exclaimed as he stepped forward and put a hand on Eddie's shoulder, effectively halting him. "No one's going anywhere."

Rita stepped forward as well, "yeah guys, I don't really think that we should go in there right now. For all we know that could be a portal to freaking hell."

Chris scoffed, "really, Rita? A portal to hell?"

Rita's cheeks flushed pink in embarrassment as she muttered, "shut up."

"What's the worst that could happen?" Asked Eddie as he tried to continue walking forward, but Nick stopped him, once again. 

"There could be something bad out there," Nick told the boy firmly, leaving no room for him to argue. 

"But, it could be a way out," suggested Zart quietly, as if raising his voice would get Nick cross with him as well. 

"He's right," agreed Alby. "It could be."

"Fine," relented Nick begrudgingly. "But, were not going out there right now. We're going to go through the new supplies we just got and then we're going to strategize."

"I see why George calls you 'Captain Nick'," joked Rita as she tried to lighten the mood. "You're a very 'take charge' sort of guy."

"Someone's got to," replied Nick seriously as he jumped back down into the Box. "Now, Alby, George, help me get this stuff up there."

Alby and George both nodded and then hopped down into the Box with Nick.

Later on, the eight teens were sorting through crates when Chris called out, "guys, check this out."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and crowded around Chris and the crate. 

"Holy shuck," Rita breathed out, "that's a lot of knives."

Indeed, there were at least two dozen different knives and daggers placed meticulously in the crate. 

"Either they want us to kill each other with these, or Nick and Rita were right and something's out there, beyond the walls and we need to protect ourselves," surmised Eddie. 

"No duh," Nick rolled his eyes. "It's highly unlikely that they were sent up here so we could kill each other with them."

"But what if they were?" Asked Zart nervously. "What if that's why whoever put us here, sent those up? What if we're here so some sickos can watch us tear each other to shreds."

"Then we have to set up some rules, I guess," said Nick as he bent down, picked up the crate's lid, and put it back into place.

"What kind of rules?" Asked Frypan. 

"Never harm another Glader," suggested Rita suddenly. When she received confused looks from the boys, she explained further, "I've been calling us 'Gladers' in my head."

"Okay," nodded Nick, "there's rule number one, 'never harm another Glader'."

"What are the other ones gonna be?" Asked Alby, as the other boys began to get back to opening crates and sorting through them. 

So far all that they had found was a pig, some seeds to plant in the ground, various medical supplies, lots of planks of wood, probably so they could begin building shelter, and the knives. 

"I guess that we'll have to make them up as we go," Nick shrugged. "Now, let's get back to sorting through these crates, then we'll figure out our game plan for whatever is out there."

Alby and Rita both nodded in agreement before going back to sorting through the crates that they were previously at.

While digging through hers, Rita found nothing else out of the usual, until she got to the bottom of the crate. 

She saw bracelet like things, and at the top of them were numbers. 

'Watches'

The word popped into her head, just like the words shank, shuck, and her name did. 

"Guys, I found some watches," she called out to the boys. Nick told the other boys to keep looking while he went over to Rita. 

He grabbed one of the watches out of the crate and examined it. When he compared it to the four others in the crate, he realized that they were all set to the same time.

Nick sighed and tossed the watch gently back into the crate. He ran a hand through his dark brown, almost black, hair. "Is it bad that I can remember what the hell a watch is and what it does, but literally nothing else about myself and my family."

Rita let out a rueful chuckle. "Nope, trust me, it's not bad at all. I can't remember anything else either. And, as far as I can tell, neither can any of the other guys."

"This sucks," Nick blew out a shaky breath. 

Rita chuckled and nodded in agreement. "That's one way to put it, I guess."

"Yeah, but there's no sense in dwelling on it," Nick said as he turned to face the other boys, and then raised his voice. "Okay, Gladers, cmon over here, it's time to talk about who's going through the doors. Now-."

"Wait," Alby interrupted Nick, while he walked toward him along with the other Gladers. "We're not all going?"

"No," Nick shook his head. "If something bad is out there, we can't afford to lose all of us."

"So, basically, you're just picking who gets to go out there and risk their lives?" Alby asked the brunette boy with venom in his voice. "That decision is up to you?"

Nick shook his head, not feeling threatened by Alby's raised voice. "It doesn't have to be if we get volunteers to go out there and poke around."

"I'll go," Eddie raised his hand and stepped forward. "It was me who wanted to go out there in the first place."

"I'll go too," Rita added. "Me and Eddie can go out for now, just us. We'll see what's out there and then report back. If we think that there's a way out, then all of us can go tomorrow."

"Are you two sure?" Inquired Nick with a worried look on his face. "Cause you don't have to."

It was so strange, Rita thought, how they had only known each other for all of two hours and they already felt connected. It was almost like they had known each other before their memories were taken. It was like they had already formed a connection that was just buried deep down, not meant to surface, but too strong to erase.

"It's really sweet that you're so worried Nick," she voiced aloud with a warm and thankful smile. She stepped over to Eddie and put a hand on his shoulder, "but like you said before, nobody that doesn't want to go out there should have to. And Eddie and I volunteered, so we're good."

"Yeah," Eddie's voice rose to an abnormally high pitch. "We're brave little soldiers who definitely aren't scared to venture out into the unknown. The scary, dark, ominous unknown."

"Really convincing, man," Chris teased Eddie with a roll of his eyes. 

"Hey, at least I'm actually doing something," Eddie said defensively as he puffed his chest in an attempt to come off as more threatening. "Unlike you."

"Just because I'm not going out there doesn't mean I'm not doing something, asshole," Chris narrowed his eyes dark eyes at the boy as he stepped forward, putting a hand on Eddie's chest and giving him a small shove. 

Just as Eddie was going to retaliate, Frypan stepped forward and grabbed onto his shoulders as George did the same to Chris. 

"Seriously guys?" Asked Frypan in disbelief. "We literally just made the rule that we don't hurt each other and you're gonna go and pull this crap?"

"Yeah, back off, Chris," George patted Chris's shoulder as he stepped back. 

"You heard him Chris," Eddie laughed in delight, thinking that he had somehow won their almost fight. "Back off."

"You little-" Chris growled before being cut off by Nick. 

"Hey!" He exclaimed loudly. He stepped forward with his arms crossed tightly over his chest. "Eddie shut your shuck mouth. Chris, calm your ass down."

"Yeah," nodded Rita as she took Eddie by the elbow. "C'mon, let's go, Eddie. We've got to figure out what we're taking with us."

"Yeah," sighed Eddie, his anger diminishing for the moment. "Let's go."

After looking through what was found in the crates, Eddie and Rita decided on each grabbing a small pack that strapped to their backs, a water bottle, and a couple of small knives that could slide into their belts. 

They were preparing to walk through the doors when Nick and George approached them. 

"Hey," Nick greeted them. "I was just thinking that you guys should each take a watch."

George held out a hand, and in it was two of the metallic, silver watches from the crate that Rita had searched through earlier. 

She and Eddie each took one and slid it onto their wrists. 

As Rita adjusted it to fit her slender wrist, Nick continued to speak, "I figured that it'd be safer if you two got back to the Glade in a couple of hours. It's starting to get dark and it'd probably be best if you were back before nightfall."

"Aye aye, Captain Nicky," Rita mock saluted the boy, who in turn rolled his eyes. 

"Really, George," he looked at the blonde boy beside him. "Now you've got her saying it."

Nick then turned back to Rita, "and don't call me 'Nicky', it makes me sound like a four year old."

"I'll think about it," Rita teased the brunette with a cheeky smirk.

"Just get out of here," Nick rolled his eyes and said with a chuckle. 

"We'll be back in two hours, at precisely," Eddie dragged out the last word as he checked his watch, "8:29 p.m., Boss"

Nick rolled his eyes once again, "you guys don't have to call me 'Boss' or 'Captain', you know."

Eddie chuckled, "but it's so fun. C'mon, Rita, we'd better get going, the sun isn't going stay up forever."

"Okay," nodded the blonde girl as she stretched out her legs out. Then as Eddie began to walk cautiously through the doors, Rita followed closely behind him. 

About an hour and forty minutes later, they were jogging around, turning left and right, and taking twists and turns. 

"What the hell is this place?" Rita mumbled. Then she spoke louder, "this doesn't look like a way out, it looks more like a way for us to get lost and die of starvation."

"It's a maze," muttered Eddie under his breath, like he was speaking to himself. 

"A maze?" Repeated Rita as the two of them stopped. She unclipped her pack and slid it off of her back that was already covered in sweat. It was sweltering, more so than in the maze, and the constant jogging didn't help the situation at all. 

Rita pulled her almost empty water bottle out of the pack and chugged the rest of it. 

"Yeah, a maze," Eddie nodded. "A maze is a complex network of paths or passages, and that is exactly what this is."

"Holy shuck, Eddie," chuckled Rita as she shook her head. She threw the empty bottle back into her pack, slid it onto her back, and clipped it into place. "You're like a human dictionary."

"Dictionary?" Eddie raised an eyebrow at her as he checked his watch. 

"Yeah. I don't know, it just popped into my head," Rita shrugged as she wiped her sweat coated forehead with the back of her hand. 

Eddie nodded in understanding before speaking, "we should try to find our way back, it's almost eight-thirty."

"Alright," nodded Rita. "Lets go."

The two began to jog back the way they came, and eventually found the doors that they had walked through two hours earlier. 

Just as they passed through them and back into the Glade, a loud rumbling sound began. 

The two covered their ears and turned around to face the doors. 

They were closing. 

"What the shuck..." mumbled Eddie as the sound ended with a great bang and the both of them uncovered their ears. 

"What the shuck, indeed," muttered Rita as she stared at the, now completely closed, doors.


	5. 03 | From the Ground Up

"There's absolutely no way you two are going back out there," Nick shook his head. He had been ranting for the the past ten minutes. 

"But, Nick-" Eddie began, just to be cut off by the brunette boy. 

"No," Nick shook his head more vehemently and held up his thumb and forefinger so there was only a sliver of space between them. "You were this close to being stuck out there yesterday. You're waiting a few days before you even think about stepping foot near those doors again."

"Yes, Mom," Rita said sarcastically and rolled her sky blue eyes at their leader. "What do you propose we do instead?"

Nick had been unanimously voted their 'leader' earlier in the day. 

He then appointed Alby as his second in command, saying that if push came to shove he'd be at ease knowing that Alby was by his side. 

His first act as leader was adding another rule; the rule was that every Glader had to do their part and that there was to be no slacking off.

"Well, I was thinking that we could take some of those planks of wood and start building, and then maybe try to plant some of those seeds," Nick told them as he looked back at Zart who seemed to be in heaven with the numerous packets of seeds. "We're gonna be needing food, and Zart won't say it but you know he needs some help."

"Aye aye, Captain Nicky," Rita saluted him, which had become a bit of a game to the Gladers. "I'll go and see if Zart needs some help with his seeds."

"Okay, then Eddie, you go on and help Chris, George, and Alby with their building," Nick instructed Eddie and then continued to speak. "I'll go see if Frypan needs some help with setting up those cooking thing-a-ma-jigs that came up today."

The cooking 'thing-a-ma-jigs' that Nick spoke of were just some pots, pans, and a kettle that could be rigged to hang over a fire to cook simple meals. 

Eddie and Rita both nodded and turned to help pitch in with building up the Glade. 

"Hey Zart the Fart," Rita greeted the blonde boy as she walked up to where he was sorting through different types of seeds. "Need some help with the loves of your life?"

"The seeds aren't the loves of my life," Zart spoke quietly. "I just find it fascinating how with just a bit of dirt and water I can create life."

"Alrighty, then," Rita chuckled at Zart's soft spoken words. "What can I do?"

Zart stood up and began to instruct the blonde girl on how to dig a small hole in the dirt, place the seed in and then cover it. 

The two continued to do that until there were a few long rows of different seeds. 

"How do you remember which seeds grow what?" Rita asked the timid boy. 

"I'll remember," Zart assured her. "But, we need to go find a water source so we can water the plants."

"Can't we just use the water bottles that were sent up?" Rita suggested. 

Zart shook his head, "no, we need that water to drink. We can't use it on the plants."

"Well, then lets go find some water," nodded Rita. Then she turned to where Nick was setting up the kettle with Frypan. 

 

(What I imagined it looked like)

"Nicky," she called out to him, "Zart and I are going to look for some water for the plants."

"Alright," Nick shouted back before turning back to Frypan, who was cursing at the contraption they were trying to build. 

"Cmon, Zart the Fart, let's go," Rita started walking off toward the woods with Zart following behind her. 

"Why do you call me that?" Zart asked in confusion as they walked through the woods. 

"Well, you needed a nickname," Rita began to explain as she looked for a water source, whether it be a stream or a lake. "And nothing else rhymes with Zart. So, you've been officially deemed 'Zart the Fart'."

"Thanks, I think...?" Zart said as more of a question than a statement.

"You're welcome," Rita smiled gleefully. 

About ten minutes later, they were still walking around looking high and low, when they heard a squelch. 

"Aw, great," Rita groaned as she pulled her foot up to examine her shoe. "I stepped in mud."

All of a sudden Zart got a huge smile on his face. "No, it really is great! You need water to make mud, so that means there must be water around here!"

After that, the two searched with a new spring in their step, before eventually coming upon a large lake. 

"We found it!" Rita exclaimed. 

They both ran back to the main part of the Glade to retrieve multiple buckets to fill up with water. After that they watered each plant accordingly and then stepped back to take a look at the place. 

Frypan and Nick had gotten all of the cooking equipment set up, while the other boys had succeeded in building a small pen for the pig, and they had begun to build a small shelter for everyone to sleep in. 

"Good job everyone," Nick smiled, "things are really beginning to come together. We'll have some good food to eat and a place to sleep in no time."


	6. 04 | Baby Greenie

A month had passed since the first boy came up in the Box, and everything was going smoothly for the Gladers. 

Sure, Chris and Eddie had some small kerfuffles, but that was to be expected with Eddie's vivacious personality and Chris's somber attitude. It was inevitable that they would clash once in a while. 

The Box stopped coming up with supplies every day, but it still came up once a week with things that they needed. 

George had the idea to send notes down in the Box, requesting what they needed, so they tried it, and it worked. Whoever loaded the box must have heeded their requests, because the week after they put the note in, the box came up with cooking utensils for Frypan, sneakers for Eddie and Rita, some gardening tools for Zart, and a toolbox filled with tools to build with for Chris, and Alby, who assisted him. 

The day had started out like any other day in the Glade. 

Zart was tending to his plants, Frypan was cooking a breakfast of scrambled eggs from the eggs of two chickens that had been sent up, Chris and Alby were almost finished with building the shelter, and Eddie and Rita were getting ready to go on their daily run in the maze. Lastly, Nick was in the middle of looking through all of their supplies and seeing what they would need to request the next time the Box came up. 

Just as Eddie and Rita were getting ready to cross the threshold and enter the maze, an alarm blared throughout the otherwise quiet Glade. 

"What the shuck is that?" Rita yelled over the ear-piercing sound. 

"I don't know," Eddie yelled back. "But we should probably check it out." 

Rita nodded and the two jogged to where the other six boys were gathering around the box. 

"What's going on?" Eddie yelled to Nick who was looking at where the Box always came up. 

"It's coming from the Box," he answered with an unreadable expression on his face. "Eddie, Rita take your knives out. We don't know if what's coming up could be dangerous."

The two followed his instructions and pulled out the daggers that were slipped in their belts, handing the extra two to Alby and Nick. 

"Be ready for anything," Nick warned them when the sound stopped and the Box came into view. "I'm gonna slide the Box open and then see what's in there."

"Be careful," said Zart as Nick slid the Box open and jumped in. 

"Guys," he called up, "it's a Greenie!"

"They're still sending people up?" Asked Rita to nobody in particular as they all crowded around the edge of the box. 

"Apparently," Nick answered as he tentatively stepped closer to the boy that was quivering in the corner of the box. "Cmon, Greenie, ain't nobody gonna hurt you."

The only thing that could be heard was a slight whimper, and then a muffled voice, "I don't wanna be here."

"If you don't stand up, then we can't get you outta the Box," Nick spoke softly to the boy. 

Hesitantly, the boy raised his head revealing sweat soaked, black hair, lightly tanned skin, and Asian features. 

"There ya go," Nick commended the boy who looked to be no more than fourteen, around the age that everyone in the Glade seemed to be, save for Alby and Nick who looked older. Now come on and stand up, we're gonna get you out of this box. Smells like you upchucked in here."

"I didn't m-mean to. I was s-scared," the boy weakly defended himself, his voice shaking like he'd burst into tears any second. 

"We all were when we first came up," Nick assured the boy. Then he looked up to the other seven Gladers and called out, "someone grab the rope we used to get Rita out of here."

"I'll get it," offered Alby as he ran off to the building, that they had named the Homestead, to grab the rope. 

Once he got back, they lowered the rope into the box. 

It took a while, but eventually Nick convinced the terrified boy to put his foot in the loop of the rope. The six Gladers that weren't in the box heaved him out, but the moment his feet hit solid ground, he bolted. 

"Shuck!" Exclaimed Eddie before he took off in a sprint after the Greenie. 

Right before he reached the maze's doors, Eddie dove and tackled him to the ground. 

"Get off of me!" The Greenie roared in, what sounded like, both anger and fright. 

"Sorry, no can do, pal," Eddie huffed, slightly out of breath. 

By then, Nick had been pulled back up, out of the box and him along with the rest of the Gladers had jogged up to the pair that were still sprawled out on the ground. 

"Get him up boys," Nick instructed Eddie and Chris, who then proceeded to grab the Newbie by his shoulders and pull him into a standing position. 

Nick stepped closer to the boy who had unshed tears in his dark-colored eyes. "Listen Greenie, we ain't trying to be rough with you, but you can't go out there. It's not for Greenbeans like you. Now, we're gonna let you go, and if you try to run away again, we're gonna tie you to a post. Got it?"

The boy nodded shakily and Nick gestured for Eddie and Alby to let him go. 

When they did, a single tear dripped down his cheek. "Where am I? Who are you people?"

"I'll give you a tour and answer all of your questions tomorrow, Greenie," Nick began and then turned to Rita, "but for why don't you go with Rita and get cleaned up. You're all banged up from the tumble you took."

"Tumble?" The boy exclaimed, confidence seeming to fill his voice. He raised an accusing index finger at Eddie. "That guy tackled me."

"Greenbean's got some fire in his belly, huh?" Laughed Rita as she stepped forward and took him by the elbow. "Come on shank, I'll take you down to the lake to wash some of those scrapes out. You can meet everyone later."

On the way to the lake, they stopped at the Homestead so Rita could grab a torn rag and some small medical supplies.

When they reached the lake, Rita instructed the boy to sit down while she dipped the rag in the lake. Then she wrung it out and began to dab at his face which had sustained small scrapes from when Eddie tackled him to the ground. 

As she dabbed at his cheek, the boy spoke a hoarse whisper. "Why can't I remember anything?"

Rita sighed sadly, "none of us can, Greenie. Your name is the only thing that comes back. You should remember yours soon."

"Where are we?" The boy asked, gaining more confidence little by little. "Why are you the only girl here? Or are there more that I haven't met?"

"Nope, I'm the only girl here," Rita told him as she put the rag down and picked up a small bandaid for a cut that was a bit deeper than the others. She peeled the paper off of the back of it and then gently stuck it to his face. "And you, Greenbean, are in the Glade. Nicky will show you around and tell you the rules tomorrow."

"Who's Nicky?" The boy asked as he reached up and lightly touched the bandaid that covered his cut. 

"He's the one that was in the Box with you," Rita told him and then began to chuckle. "But don't you call him that, he'll throw a hissy fit if you call him anything other than Nick."

"Got it," the boy nodded, but then got a far away look on his face. 

"Hello," drawled Rita as she waved a hand in front of his face. "Yoo-hoo, Greenie."

"Minho," he mumbled. 

"What?"

"That's my name," he repeated, his voice getting louder and an excited look grew on his face. "I remembered, my name! It's Minho!"

"Minho!" Rita yelled out as she grabbed Minho by the hand. 

She pulled him up and began to ran back to the Glade, dragging him along with her. 

"Guys!" She bellowed out when she reached the edge of the forest. "This is Minho!"

"Minho!" The boys yelled out in glee, just as they had when Rita first remembered her name. 

All of the boys stopped what they were doing to come up and pat Minho on the back. 

"I was thinking," Nick began as the rest of the boys rallied around Minho, "we should have a little party. Fry can cook up some grub, and we'll have a little fire. It'll be like a party to celebrate our new brother, and a good first month, here in the Glade."

"I think that sounds fan-shucking-tastic," Chris sighed as he looked at his hands that were raw and callused from handling tools, and everyone else nodded in agreement. 

"Yeah," Rita nodded as she turned to Minho. "It'll give Minho, here, a chance to meet everyone."

"Alright then, its settled," Nick clapped his hands together, "when the doors close we'll get a fire going and have some food. But, back to work for now, shuckfaces."

"Aye aye Captain," everyone, save for Minho who didn't know the little game, saluted Nick. 

"Get out of here, ya shanks."

Everyone went back to work, and Minho was tasked with helping Zart pick some vegetables and plant some new ones. 

Eddie and Rita had lost a couple hours of daylight, so they were in and out of the maze quicker than usual before the doors closed. 

As they headed back into the Glade, chugging bottles of water, they saw a big pile of wood and hay in the middle of the Glade surrounded by a few logs. 

"Wow," Eddie exclaimed, still slightly out of breath, "The boss sure knows how to throw a party."

"I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not, Eddie," Rita laughed as she and Eddie walked to the homestead to grab some extra water. 

Later on, everyone was gathered around the fire, eating some vegetable soup that Frypan had made. 

Rita scanned the Glade, and saw Minho sitting by his lonesome on a log. 

She made her way over to him and sat down, handing him the bowl of soup that she was carrying. "Why you all alone, Greenie?"

"I don't know," Minho sighed after taking a small sip of the broth. 

"Okay," Rita drawled while searching for something else to say. "So, how'd working with Zart go? Do we have another plant enthusiast on our hands?"

Minho laughed, "I was watering the plants, and apparently there is such a thing as too much water."

"It's alright," Rita laughed. "We'll find a job for you. You'll feel like part our weird, little family in no time."


	7. 05 | Little Miss Keeper

Minho had been in the Glade for nearly a week and a half, and he was still struggling to find a job that was suitable for him.

Rita was beginning to feel quite sorry for the boy. So far he had already drown a couple of Zart's crops, let boiling water disintegrate while helping Frypan, and hammered his thumb multiple times while working with Chris, George, and Alby. 

There was really no jobs left that Minho could perform sufficiently enough to be of any help. 

Well, no job except running in the maze, which he hadn't done yet. 

"You want to take the Greenie out into the maze with you?" Nick asked in disbelief when Rita had confronted him with her idea. 

"Well, yeah," Rita nodded her head in confirmation. Then she pointed to Minho, who was in the middle of trying to attach a slab of wood onto the side of the Homestead to make a poorly constructed door. "I mean look at the poor guy, he's crashing and burning at everything else you have him do. Plus, he was pretty damn fast the first day he came up before Eddie tackled him. I think with a little teaching he'd do good."

"Well, I guess that you and Eddie did just start running different parts of the maze. So, technically, it's a better time than any to train someone to run," Nick relented and Rita began to smile in excitement. Nick continued, "don't get too happy, though. He's your responsibility, Rita, and I don't need a Greenie getting trapped or hurt in there."

"I swear on my life, Nicky, I won't let him out of my sight," Rita promised before turning around and walking to Minho.

"Hey, Greenie," she called out as she walked up to him. 

"Oh, hey, Rita," he greeted her as he squinted his eyes in the bright sunlight. "How aren't you sweating like a pig right now?"

"Trust me, Minho, the maze is a lot hotter than this," the blonde chuckled. "You'll have to suck it up, I guess. Because if you think that this is too hot, you won't survive one run in the maze."

"What're you saying?" Asked Minho with a confused expression as he, once again, failed to attach the door to the Homestead.

"I'm saying, put that door down," she pointed at the slab of wood he was still holding. "You're coming with me today Greenie, so hurry up cause we're burning daylight."

"O-okay," Minho stuttered as he leaned the wood against the side of the Homestead, and began to follow her as she walked to a small shack close to the Box hole. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see," Rita smirked, "hold your horses, Greenie. Patience is a virtue."

They walked into the shack and Minho's eye was immediately caught by a big diorama that was being built with sticks in the middle of the small room. 

"Me and Eddie have started mapping out the inside of the maze," Rita answered his silent question of what the diorama was of. 

"So you brought me in here to show me this?"

"Yes, and to get you some supplies," Rita crouch down in front of a large crate and opened it. 

Minho peered over her shoulder and saw many things. 

Rita began to pull things out of the crate and pass them to the boy over her shoulder. 

Once she closed the crate, Minho held a pair of sneakers, a pack that strapped to his back, and a watch. 

"The sneakers are only to be warn in the maze," Rita told him as she walked over to a metal box with a lock on it. She pulled a key out of her pocket and stuck it in the key hole. " we don't want them getting worn out too quickly. The watch is to tell you how long you have before you have to head back to the Glade, and the pack holds things like water and food."

"And what's in there?" Minho asked with curiosity in his voice as Rita turned the key and pulled the lock off of the box. 

She opened it and pulled out two medium sized knives and handed them to him. "These are what we keep on us just in case we ever run into something while we're in the maze."

"I-is there things out there?" Minho asked with wide eyes. 

"Eddie and I haven't ran into anything yet," Rita explained. "But, one of Nick's conditions is that we're only allowed to run the maze if we have something to protect ourselves on hand."

 

Only minutes later, Minho and Rita were entering the maze and Minho was looking around in awe. 

"Kind of cool isn't it?" Rita asked with a raised eyebrow. "Well, at least as cool as something that's keeping us trapped here can be."

Minho nodded, but a nervous look clouded his face. "I'm not gonna get lost in here, am I?"

"Not if you stick with me, you're not. Just call me your Keeper."


	8. 06 | Grievers

"Zart the Fart, how's the fruit coming along?" Rita asked Zart as she walked over to where he was tending to his garden. 

The Box had come up with the supplies about a week after Minho had entered the maze the first time and Zart had nearly squealed in excitement when he realized that The Creators, which was what they had taken to calling the people that put them there, had sent up seeds for various fruits. 

"They're coming along beautifully," Zart answered her as he watered the small sapling that was soon to be a large apple tree. "We'll be having delicious fruit to eat in no time."

"That's great," Rita smiled. Zart was hardly talkative, but when asked about his plants his eyes lit up and he could go on for ages. "I'd love to stay and chat, but Minho and I have gotta get out into the maze. Eddie's already running, I reckon."

"Of course," Zart smiled back. "See you later, Rita."

Rita said goodbye and jogged over to the entrance of the maze where Minho was already stretching. 

"Thought you weren't gonna show up," Minho teased her as he stretched his arms above his head. 

"Shut your mouth, Greenie," Rita rolled her eyes as she too began to stretch out her muscles.

Minho scrunched up his nose in distaste. "I hate that word. Are you guys ever gonna stop calling me 'Greenie'?"

"Hey, you're the newest Newbie," Rita reminded the new Runner. "You're graced with the name Greenbean until another shank comes up. If another shank comes up."

"Someone better come up," the Asian boy grumbled. "I can't stand being called 'Greenie'."

Rita laughed heartily, "well, just because you said that, I'm gonna call you Greenie forever. You are my Greenie after all."

"I can't stand you," Minho shook his head, part in amusement and part in annoyance. "Now shouldn't we get going?" 

"Hey, who's the Keeper here? Me or you?" Rita asked the boy with a raised eyebrow. 

Minho just rolled his eyes playfully as Rita gestured for him to follow her as they ran into the maze. 

Rita had her run memorized. Left, right, left, left, right, left, right. And once they finished that route, they continued on, memorizing the route and mapping it later on. 

"Okay," Rita huffed, short of breath as she slowed to a stop about four hours in, Minho following suit. "Let's take a lunch break."

Minho nodded and the both of them unclipped their packs and slid them off. 

Rita opened hers and pulled out a bottle of water, opening it and gulping down the contents. 

"If we're gonna map this whole maze and find a way out, we're gonna need some more runners," Minho said after emptying his first bottle, throwing it back into his pack, and grabbing a second one. 

Rita snorted, "none of those shanks out there would last a day in the maze. They'd be dropping dead of either exhaustion or heatstroke within the first two hours. But, you're right. We're gonna be here for fifty years running this maze if we don't get more people out here."

"Well then here's to hoping," Minho raised his bottle of water in a mock toast, and Rita slightly raised her own. 

"You're a sassy shuckface, you know," she shook her head in amusement before tossing the, now empty, bottle into her pack and then slinging it back over her shoulders. 

She looked down to clip it back into place, and when she looked up she saw that Minho had done the same thing.

"Let's go, Greenie," Rita said before they both took off, running further into the maze.

Whir, click, click, whir

"What the shuck was that?" Minho asked Rita as they both slowed down. 

"I-I have no clue," stuttered Rita as she looked around, searching for the source of the noise. 

"Should we check it out?" Minho asked as he began to walk in the direction of the noise. 

"Probably," nodded Rita as she fell into step with him, "but take out one of your knives. We need to be careful."

Minho nodded in agreement and pulled a sharp dagger with a curved end out of his belt, as did Rita. 

They cautiously walked forward, and Rita could feel her hand shaking as she held her knife out in front of her. 

"Have you or Eddie ever come across anything in the past month you've been running?" Minho asked, his voice hushed invade the thing that was out there could hear him.

Rita shook her head, not speaking because she was distracted as the noises began again, this time closer. 

Whir, click, click, whir

"Min, I don't think we should stay in the maze right now," Rita whispered, her voice beginning to shake with fear. 

"What?" Minho whispered back nervously.  "Why, do you know what it is?"

Rita shook her head. "No, but I have a nasty feeling that we may not wanna find out."

Just as the blonde said that, a large blubbery creature with large metal spikes, spears, and rods sticking out of its gruesome body came stalking around the corner. 

"M-Minho," Rita stuttered in shock as she swatted weakly at Minho's tan arm. Then she regained her wits that had been scattered upon first seeing the beast. "RUN!"

She didn't have to tell the boy twice, as he took off sprinting the moment the word left her chapped lips. Rita followed closely behind him, and she could tell that the creature did too as she could make out the whirring and clicking not far behind.

"Ah!" Rita shrieked as her sneaker got caught on a rock, sending her flying to the ground and causing her to badly scrape up her face. Minho helped her up and began to pull her hastily along behind him. 

Her shoe must've fallen off, because when she ran her steps were unbalanced which caused her to slow down unintentionally. She reached down and quickly slipped her remaining sneaker off, tossing it behind her, before sprinting to catch up to Minho who was close to the open doors. 

All of the other Gladers' eyes were on the pair as they sprinted through the doors, getting all the way to Zart's garden before even daring to slow down. Rita turned around along with Minho just in time to see the creature scuttle its way past the doors, not even sparing a glance toward the Glade. 

"What the hell was that?" Exclaimed Nick with a worried and frightened look on his face as he jogged up to the pair. 

"Nicky!" Rita exclaimed as she threw her arms around the tall boy, holding on tightly. 

Nick was frozen in surprise for a moment before putting his arms around the girl's waist and reciprocating the hug. 

"I thought I'd never see you again," Rita smiled in relief as she buried her head into Nick's shoulder.

"What happened out there?" Nick asked, his voice soft in Rita's ear. 

"We're not alone here, Nick," Rita whispered so only Nick could hear her as the other boys approached them. "There are monsters surrounding us."


	9. 07 | Mediocre John

The boys had gone into a panic when Minho and Rita had described what happened in the maze. 

Luckily, only minutes after Minho and Rita had gotten back to the Glade, Eddie arrived as well, unharmed and seemingly fine. 

When questioned about whether or not he saw the creature, Eddie had just squinted his eyes in confusion and asked, "what creature?"

After the terrifying escapade, Nick forbade the three runners to even think about entering the maze again in fear of the monster attacking again. 

Zart had come up with the name for it. A Griever he had called it. He said that he thought of that name because he just knew that one day they'd have to grieve their friends because of the thing. 

That was three weeks ago. 

A few days before, the Box had come up again but that time the alarm had blared the same way it did when Minho was brought to them. Inside the box, along with a new pair of sneakers for Rita, and more water bottles to drink, was a young dark-skinned boy with a trembling body and tears tracked down his face. 

His name had taken the longest of all of them to return, taking two and a half days to float into the boy's mind. But, when it did, everyone learned that the lithe boy who was surprisingly amazing at tending to wounds was named Jeff. He proved himself to be the best medic they had when Chris had accidentally sawed into his hand while cutting a plank of wood. 

Everyone else was on the verge of panicking— with the exception of Eddie who's face steadily grew greener until he vomited at the edge of the woods—   
until Jeff stepped up, grabbing a needle and thread out of the medical kit.

"Sit," Jeff commanded Chris as he motioned towards one of the fairly well constructed wooden chairs in the Homestead.

Once Chris sat down, Jeff told him to hold out his hand. 

"What're you planning on doing with that thing?" Chris looked apprehensively at the needle in Jeff's hand as he cradled his injured hand to his chest, not daring to let it anywhere near the needle. 

"I have to stitch up your cut," Jeff explained gently to the nervous boy. 

Chris's eyes widened and the boy looked more frightened than Rita had ever seen him. "Y-you mean that you're gonna sew up my hand like it's a tear in a shirt?!"

"Chris, would you just let the Greenie fix your hand before you bleed out?" Alby huffed at the stubborn boy who's shirt was soaked red from the bleeding hand that was pressed against it. Alby crossed his arms over his broad chest. 

"F-fine," Chris relented and hesitantly stuck his hand out. "But if you permanently maim my hand or something, I'll wring your neck, Greenbean. I mean it, too."

Jeff gulped nervously before trying to send Chris a reassuring smile, which turned out as more of an unsure grimace. "I know what I'm doing. I-I think I do, anyways."

"Oh no," Chris groaned as he threw his head back and clenched his eyes shut. "I'm gonna lose my hand, ain't I?"

But, he didn't lose his hand. In fact, Jeff sewed up his hand so perfectly, that when the stitches were ready to be taken out and it healed up, all that was left behind was a thin white mar across the boy's tan hand. 

"So," Rita asked Jeff a few days after the incident, "we've all decided to come up with names for our jobs. Frypan's obviously a Cook, Eddie, Minho, and I are Runners, Chris, George, and Alby are Builders, for some reason Zart wanted to be a 'Track Hoe', and then Nick's our Leader. So, what do you want to be called, Greenbean?"

Jeff, who at the moment was quite distracted by some medical books that had come up in the most recent shipment of supplies, only mumbled in response and of course Rita misunderstood his answer. 

"Did you just say that you wanted to be called, 'Marmalade Josh'?" She asked as her face contorted in confusion. 

Jeff faintly shook his head and mumbled once again, as he was too enthralled in his reading to speak clearly. 

"'Monkey Jacob', did you say?"

The blonde only received a roll of the boy's eyes, and yet another mumble. 

"Boy, I cannot hear you," she muttered under her breath. "Did you just tell me to call you 'Mediocre John'? Because, if so, that is one weird decision but I can get behind it."

"I said, I wanted to be called, Medic Jeff," Jeff said in another mumble. 

"Oh," Rita nodded, believing that she finally understood the dark-skinned boy's words. "I got it. I'll go tell Nicky to write it down, then the name will be set in stone. No changing it."

"Yep," nodded Jeff absently as he turned a page in his book, "101 Simple Medical Procedures". 

So upon hearing that, Rita walked out of the small building that was constructed for treating wounds and illnesses and made her way over to Nick. 

"Nicky," she said when she reached him. "I've got Jeff's name."

"Alright then," Nick said as he pulled a small yellowing piece of paper and a dull pencil out of his back pocket. "What is it then?"

"He said he wanted to be called a 'Med-Jack'," Rita informed the boy. 

"Huh? Seriously?"

"Hey, I know it's weird, but the kid seemed to like it. And who am I to judge, right?"

And thus, the Med-Jack's were created.


End file.
